Bulldogs top Happy Valley

ELIZABETHTON — Hampton took advantage of early Happy Valley foul trouble to take a 64-54 decision on Tuesday night at Bayless Gym.

The Warriors had 17 fouls in the first half, 10 in the first quarter alone as the Bulldogs raced out to a 21-8 lead. With the advantage, the Bulldogs (7-3) led by at least nine points the rest of the contest.

Hampton made it a clean sweep with a 66-53 win in an earlier girls’ game.

“I thought we did a good job of taking care of the ball, spreading it out and shooting free throws,” Bulldogs head coach Ned Smith said. “Then, we attacked the rim and had better shot selection than we had our last game.”

For the Warriors (2-8), the early foul trouble meant an uphill battle all night long.

“In the first half, it was a 10-point game and we lost by 10 points,” Happy Valley head coach Chuck Babb said. “They shot 24 free throws and we fouled, but you just have to keep playing through that. We’re going to face situations like that.”

Hampton was balanced in its scoring attack led by Josh Stout with a season-high 14 points. Wesley Murray had 13 points, followed by Stanley Valentine and Cheyenne Camillo with 11 points apiece.

“We had good balanced scoring,” Smith said. “I thought we had good shot selection, and were doing a good job penetrating and kicking it out to get the open shot. We did a good job of spreading the points out tonight.”

Murray also had eight rebounds, while point guard Cody McClain was 6-of-6 from the free-throw line and added seven assists.

The Warriors’ Josh Price led all scorers with 18 points. Kelton Brzostowski also hit double digits with an 11-point effort.

After getting beat by 25 at Hampton two weeks ago, the Warriors were more competitive this time around.

“The kids played hard, but there were little things at key moments,” Babb said. “We had it down to 10 points and we miss a block out, so they kick it back out for a three and push it back to 13. We’ve got to make plays in situations like that.

“In the third quarter, we had five stops in a row, but couldn’t convert on the offensive end. We had great effort. We just have to execute better.”

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Hampton (girls) 66

Happy Valley 53

Dorothy Dugger scored 16 points and dished out six assists to lead the Lady Bulldogs (8-3) over the Lady Warriors (4-5).

Paige Montgomery tallied 15 points and six rebounds, while Alexis Bowers and Monica Olvera each ended with a dozen points.

Down by one starting the fourth quarter, Hampton found success by switching to a half-court attack.

“When you have two teams like us and them that play up and down, it’s a game of runs,” Lady Bulldogs head coach Leon Perry said. “The last six minutes we had to set up and run something we hadn’t all year. We’re not much on half-court basketball, but we executed well. Once it comes tournament time, you know you’re going to have to do it.”

Shalee Perry scored 16 points to pace Happy Valley, while Kaylee Johnson had a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds. Makenzie Blankenship was on their heels with 14 points.

The Lady Warriors showed fight throughout. They trailed 31-27 at the half, but held a 42-41 lead at the end of three quarters.

“We did a great job of challenging them defensively,” Happy Valley coach Larry Abel Jr. said. “For three quarters, we executed well, but Leon made some great adjustments in the fourth and we didn’t get adjusted as quick defensively.

“I’m challenging them to play hard and they always respond and play hard. We’ve got a lot of young kids, just learning to win is the next building block for us.”